According to Fitzgerald she only learned the car was registered to her in November of 2009, when it had already accumulated a large number of tickets. Fitzgerald has argued in court documents that her ex-boyfriend Brandon Preveau, who works at O'Hare, purchased the ride from her uncle in 2008 for $600, also paying for the car's title, registration and insurance.

Fitzgerald alleges Preveau, who has since married someone else, registered the car in Fitzgerald's name before dumping it (and her).

While this sounds like it could quickly digress into a case of legal "he said, she said," Fitzgerald has another, even stronger case for why she should be off the hook for over $100K. According to Chicago law, any vehicle left abandoned after 30 days should be towed and impounded.